This film has had its regular run and it is now currently playing in some smaller theaters. Due to my schedule, I had missed it when they played it in regular theaters, but I was finally able to catch this film recently at Charter Center Cinemas in Huntington Beach.
Based on a children’s book written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak of the same name, Where the Wild Things Are has a simple plot (the book was 9 sentences long). The story, filled with illustrations, centers around Max, who plays around in his house creating mischief. As punishment, his mother sends him to his room without supper, so he runs off into an imaginative world of monsters (The Wild Things) where he crowns himself king and does whatever he wants to do. This film by Spike Jonze takes this story and expands it, with details, layers, and insight, showing us a projection of Max’s psyche, and possibly more.
The character of Max (Max Records) is played realistically and acts exactly how one would expect a young child to act. He enjoys playing in his makeshift igloo in the snow, imagines sailing in his tiny boat, throws snowballs, and sometimes, tantrums. He deals a lot with real life situations—his mom has a new boyfriend, his sister is too cool to hang out with him, he is occasionally lonely, and doesn’t particularly pay attention in school.
Once Max enters into the fantasy world of Where the Wild Things Are, he meets the ferocious Carol (James Gandolfini), a male monster who wants to eat him at first. There’s the mother-like monster KW (Lauren Ambrose) who once was a friend of Carol, but no longer. There are these other monsters too who have various different personalities. Max befriends them, soon declares himself king of the land, and they play around, dancing, throwing mud clots, and building a fortress. It isn’t all fun and games, however. Some of these monsters simply don’t get along and some have temper issues and some feel lonely or ostracized.
The look of the film has that old-school independent feel—there’s some shaky camera and Karen O’s (of Yeah Yeah Yeahs) songs bring a retro 60’s charm. There are quiet moments of little to no dialogue. The world Max enters doesn’t look CG, fantastic, or saturated, but the deserts, waters, and forests are like any other. And, the Wild Things don’t look like realistic monsters, but are part animatronics and furry costumes—they are as real as one’s imagination would allow them to be. Thankfully, this lack of CG works to the film’s benefit. CG creatures, on the whole, have a tendency to feel distant, unreal, and not particularly huggable. The monsters here are generally like Muppets, and as such, there’s texture and a human touch that CG creatures simply can’t replace. These monsters are relatable, and their emotions and speech are displayed realistically. The film, in mood and tone, does resemble the rather gothic look of Maurice Sendak’s illustrations.
For a film of this kind, this movie has multiple layers and it is never quite simple (although it can be enjoyed that way too). These monsters appear to be physical manifestations of Max’s raw emotions, fears, wants, as well as specific people in his life. Likewise, the monsters don’t talk like monsters, but regular people, generally adults, maybe even siblings. Some of them appear to be his view of his parents (one of them possibly his currently absent Dad)—there’s even some jealousy and anger and arguments between two creatures that may reveal events of Max’s family history. What is surprising is how downbeat much of the film is—it’s no laugh-a-minute zany cartoon ride, that’s for sure. Spike Jonze had mentioned in an interview that the film isn’t so much a “children’s film” as it is a “film about children”. It is true that children increasingly face a world that isn’t particularly kind. Much of the film indeed is like psychoanalysis, not unlike looking at a child’s drawing and deducing his emotions as well as his past (that may have contributed to those emotions). This world is certainly a world that a child would see. What’s fascinating is that many adults can look at this film and find a piece of their own past in there—maybe even deal with their own issues.
Overall, I found the film to be emotionally intense, and one may feel that way too, that is, if one had read into it as I did. It can be taken at face value as a fun little adventure, too, of course. There are plenty of moments of monsters doing random oddball things that are silly and charming. I appreciated the way these monsters displayed solid emotions, which in a sense were all part of Max’s emotions. Spike Jonze has made a cleverly artistic, yet somber, film. I appreciated how the film never fully spelled everything out to the audience, but we were given clues--and many of these moments were open to interpretation. There’s a small part in the movie where Max is sitting at class where the teacher gives a rather depressing lecture about the power of the sun and how the sun will eventually die and all life on Earth will also be done once that happens. It seems to imply that there are certain things bigger than us that we depend on, and that the universe doesn’t revolve around us. Maybe the scene is saying that although Max wants to be the king of the world, there are bigger creatures in his life he too must depend on, and perhaps he shouldn’t hate the “sun,” if you will. At least it’s the way I interpreted it. ***1/2 stars out of ****.
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The book's a classic.
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